DOJ Spox Blasts Chuck Todd for Coverage of Barr Interview on Flynn: ‘Deceptive Editing/Commentary’

A DOJ spokesperson scolded Meet the Press host Chuck Todd over the “deceptive editing” he presented of Bill Barr’s recent interview defending the department dropping the case against Michael Flynn.

On Sunday morning, Todd covered the Flynn news and noted the president’s big tweetstorm. At one point he brought up part of what Barr said to CBS News.

Catherine Herridge asked Barr, “When history looks back on this decision, how do you think it will be written?”

“Well, history is written by the winner. So it largely depends on who’s writing the history,” Barr said.

Todd played that clip and said, “I was struck, Peggy, by the cynicism of the answer. It’s a correct answer, but he’s the attorney general. He didn’t make the case that he was upholding the rule of law. He was almost admitting that, yeah, this is a political job.”

For the record, Barr’s full answer to that exact question from Herridge was, “Well, history is written by the winner. So it largely depends on who’s writing the history. But I think a fair history would say it was a good decision because it upheld the rule of law, it upheld the standards of the Department of Justice, and it undid what was an injustice.”

DOJ spokesperson Kerri Kupec took to Twitter and called out Todd, saying, “Very disappointed by the deceptive editing/commentary by @ChuckTodd on @MeetThePress on AG Barr’s CBS interview.”

Very disappointed by the deceptive editing/commentary by @ChuckTodd on @MeetThePress on AG Barr’s CBS interview.

Compare the two transcripts below. Not only did the AG make the case in the VERY answer Chuck says he didn’t, he also did so multiple times throughout the interview. pic.twitter.com/PR1ciceMmE

— KerriKupecDOJ (@KerriKupecDOJ) May 10, 2020

Also, no mention by Todd that the AG spent a large portion of the CBS interview explaining the legal reasoning supporting the request for dismissal. The full transcript has been available on CBS’ website since Thursday night, including the answer NBC aired in its edited form. https://t.co/R1c4HEcZi9

— KerriKupecDOJ (@KerriKupecDOJ) May 10, 2020

You can watch the segment in question above and the Barr interview clip above, via NBC and CBS.